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> Animating Characters and Objects > Skeletal Mesh Animation System > Animation Editors > Skeleton Tree

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Skeleton Tree

User guide for the Skeleton Tree inside the Skeleton Editor.

Choose your operating system:

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macOS

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Search Line

The Search line allows for quick filtering of the Skeletal hierarchy by filtering out the hierarchy to only include names based on the entered text.

Above, we have filtered the hierarchy to only include Bone Names, Sockets or Preview Objects that include the text Spine in them.

Bone Hierarchy List

This window shows all the Bones, Sockets and Preview Objects currently used by the selected Skeleton Asset. Inside this window is where you can add and assign Sockets and Preview Objects as well as adjust Translation Retargeting options. Most of the adjustments made in the Bone Hierarchy list is handled through Right-click context menus where the menu options vary based on the object you right-click on (see the context menu sections below).

Bone Context Menu

When Right-clicking on a bone, you will see the following context menu:


Name	Description
Socket Actions
Add Socket	Adds a new Socket to the currently selected bone. Note that if you have hidden Sockets using the button near the top of the Skeleton Tree , then this option will be grayed out.
Paste Selected Socket	If you have copied a Socket to the clipboard ( Right-click and choose Copy Selected Socket), then this will paste that socket onto the selected bone.
Selected Bone Actions
Copy Selected Bone Names	Copies the selected bone names to the clipboard. This is useful if you should need to enter a complex bone name into a property field.
Bone Translation Retargeting
Recursively Set Translation Retargeting Skeleton	This recursively sets the bone and all of its children to use Translation Retargeting based off the Skeleton. See the Translation Retargeting Controls
Recursively Set Translation Retargeting Animation	This recursively sets the bone and all of its children to use Translation Retargeting based off the Animation. See the Translation Retargeting Controls
Recursively Set Translation Retargeting AnimationScaled	This recursively sets the bone and all of its children to use Translation Retargeting based off the scaled Animation. See the Translation Retargeting Controls
Recursively Set Translation Retargeting AnimationRelative	This recursively sets the bone and all of its children to use Translation Retargeting relative to the Animation. See the Translation Retargeting Controls
LOD Bone Reduction
Remove Selected Bone from...	Places the selected bone and its children on the Bones to Remove list for a certain LOD level within the LOD settings. See LOD Settings for more information.
Add Remove Selected Bone to...	Removes the selected bone from the Bones to Remove list for the specified LOD level. See LOD Settings for more information.
Attached Assets Actions
Add Preview Asset	Opens a menu of all eligible assets that can be temporarily attached to a bone for previewing purposes. For instance, if you want to see what a certain piece of armor would look like attached a bone, this is the option you would use. Note, however, that this is not a permanent attachment and will only be visible while previewing.

Socket Context Menu

When Right-clicking on a Socket , you will see the following context menu:


Name	Description
Selected Item Actions
Delete	Deletes a selected Socket.
Selected Socket Actions
Copy Selected Sockets	Copies the selected socket to the clipboard for pasting on to other bones.
Rename Socket	Allows you to rename a selected Socket.
Create Mesh Socket	Copies the Socket from the Skeleton asset onto the specific Skeletal mesh being used. In this way, a Socket can be edited for characters using the same Skeleton asset, but having different mesh proportions.
Delete Mesh Socket	This is only available when Right-clicking on a Socket that has been made into a Mesh Socket. This removes the Mesh copy of the socket, leaving only the original Socket on the Skeleton asset.
Attached Assets Actions
Add Preview Asset	Opens a menu of all eligible assets that can be temporarily attached to a bone for previewing purposes. For instance, if you want to see what a certain piece of armor would look like attached a bone, this is the option you would use. Note, however, that this is not a permanent attachment and will only be visible while previewing.
Remove All Attached Assets	Removed all attached Preview Assets from this socket.

Preview Asset Context Menu

A Preview Asset is an asset, such as a Static Mesh or Skeletal Mesh, that has been temporarily attached to a bone or Socket for Previewing purposes.

When Right-clicking on a Preview Asset, you will see the following context menu:


Name	Description
Selected Asset Actions
Delete	Removes the selected Preview Asset.
Attached Asset Actions
Add Preview Asset	Opens a menu of all eligible assets that can be temporarily attached to a bone for previewing purposes. For instance, if you want to see what a certain piece of armor would look like attached to a bone, this is the option you would use. Note, however, that this is not a permanent attachment and will only be visible while previewing.
Remove All Preview Assets	Deletes all Preview Assets currently on the mesh.

Blend Profile and Skeleton Options

At the bottom of the Skeleton Tree window are the Blend Profile and Skeleton Options buttons.

Blend Profiles

A Blend Profile is a set of per-bone scales that can be used in transitions and blend lists to tweak the weights of specific bones. The scales are applied to a normal weight for that bone. You can create/name your Blend Profile from the drop-down menu then specify the per-bone scales next to each bone with the Blend Profile Scale setting.

Skeleton Options

The Skeleton Options window allow you show or hide Skeleton Retargeting Options as well as Bones and Sockets.

Translation Retargeting Controls

With Show Retargeting Options enabled from the Skeleton Options menu, the Bone Hierarchy window will update with addition options. The right column of buttons in the Skeleton Tree controls how you want to handle translation retargeting on your skeletal mesh. The dropdowns allow you to specify what will be used as the basis for retargeting: the skeleton's bone information, the animation rotation data, or the animation as applied to a scaled character.

Each dropdown allows you to control how that specific bone will handle retargeting and what will be used as the basis for that retarget.

Each button contains the following three options.

Note that you can change these settings recursively on each child of a selected bone by Right-clicking and selecting the recursive commands in the context menu.


Name	Description
Animation	Use translation from animation.
Skeleton	Use translation from skeleton.
AnimationScaled	Use translation from animation, scale length by the Skeleton's proportions.
AnimationRelative	Use relative translation from animation similar to an additive animation.

Show/Hide Bones and Sockets

The Bone and Socket section of the Skeleton Options menu are used to control visibility over various bone and Socket types.


Option	Description
Show All Bones	Shows all bones available in the skeleton.
Show Mesh Bones	Shows only those bones that are exclusive to this Skeletal Mesh.
Show Weighted Bones	Shows only those bones which have vertices weighted to them.
Hide Bones	Hides all bones, showing only Sockets and preview assets.


Option	Description
Show Active Sockets	Shows only active Sockets. When you customize a Socket ( Right-click and choose Customize Socket), the Socket is copied from the Skeleton onto the mesh, making a special socket that is exclusive to this Skeletal Mesh and not shared by any other Skeletal Meshes using the same Skeleton. When you do that, the new customized Socket - also known as a Mesh Socket - becomes active and the original Socket, which remains a part of the Skeleton asset, is considered inactive. In effect, this will hide away any Sockets on the Skeleton that has a customized Mesh Socket counterpart.
Show Mesh Sockets	Shows only customized Sockets, which are those Sockets that are exclusive to this Skeletal Mesh and are not used by any other Skeletal Mesh that shares a Skeleton asset with this one.
Show Skeleton Sockets	Shows only those Sockets which are non-customized, meaning those which are part of the Skeleton asset and are not exclusive to this Skeletal Mesh.
Show All Sockets	Shows all Sockets available on the Skeletal Mesh.
Hide Sockets	Hides all Sockets.

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